Discussion

This perennial bestseller originally written in 1949 by Benjamin Graham distills the basic concepts of value investing.
My highlights:
-Mr. Market knocks on your door every day with a quoted sales price. You have the power to accept or reject his offer based on your understanding of value.
-One of the best ways to overcome fear of rise or fall in your holdings is to dollar-cost average (buy at a set interval regardless of recent market changes).
-Some industries are probably never going to be very good investments due to regulation, margins, and competition (airline industry).

Warren Buffett stands on the shoulders of giants, and Ben Graham is the historical giant of value investing. This is the book that Buffett recommends to every investor, and it is fascinating from both a historical as well as financial perspective. When you read this book, you are stepping back in time, to a world before the Great Depression, when common stocks were still relatively new, and people bought them purely based on popularity, growth, or immediate payout. Graham was the one who first evangelized the idea that by looking at the core financials of a company – the assets and the dividends, you can make an informed judgement of the company’s value and the value of the stock.